SICB Division of Comparative Physiology and Biochemistry (DCPB)

Researchers Database Entry

Stephen Secor and a graduate student (Shelley Spann) and an undergraduate student (Jason Barton) measuring blood flow through the superior mesenteric artery and hepatic portal vein of a 12 kg python crawling down the hallway in the Biology Building at the University of Alabama. This measurement is part of a study to investigate the differential allocation of blood flow during exercise and digestion in pythons. For this snake, blood flow through those vessels decreased by 50% during exercise, but increased by 800% to 1500% during digestion.